Flying subjects

Just as student pilots train on simulators, you can photograph flying birds before trying to tackle real aircraft.

ONE of our readers, Jasmine from Malta, wrote to me asking about photographing aircraft at an air show. I couldn�t help her the first time she enquired about shooting fireworks and now, I am sad to say that I have never shot an air show before.

But, thinking back, I did remember taking some photos of seagulls in mid-flight. This may not compare with state-of-the-art fighter aircraft zooming across the sky but the fundamentals of shooting both are similar.

Recently, I was invited to Japan by Nikon to witness the launch of their new DSLRs (Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras) and part of the trip was a tour to their high-tech manufacturing facilities in Sendai city where we watched brand new Nikon D3 cameras roll off the production line.

It was like watching precision Swiss timepieces being assembled (come to think of it, I haven't witnessed that either but have seen it on TV). Young Japanese girls with nimble hands meticulously assemble the D3s, one tiny bit at a time. No wonder these cameras cost as much as a Swiss watch.

Shot Story
By LAI VOON LOONG

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